Apart from thermal isolation, gloves typically serve to protect the hands. Injuries are avoided by blocking or at least cushioning mechanical impacts to the hand. For example, work gloves are typically made from stable and tear-resistant materials to reduce the risk of cuts to the hand.
A goalkeeper glove, for example, fulfills several requirements. Apart from improving the grip on the inner side of the hand, it is important to protect the hand against the significant mechanical loads arising when deflecting a sharply shot ball. A particular risk for a goalkeeper is the hyperextension of individual fingers or the thumb. When a goalkeeper tries to deflect a ball with an extended hand, there is the risk that one or two fingers of the extended hand, which barely contact the ball, are subjected to the full impact of the ball and hyperextended. Straining or even breaking a finger or the hand is a possible consequence. It has, therefore, been known to provide goalkeeper gloves and gloves for sports (e.g., snowboard gloves), where the hand is subjected to similar loads, with active reinforcing elements. These reinforcing elements allow for bending of the hand in a gripping direction, but they block a bending of the extended hand into the opposite direction, i.e., in the direction of a hyperextension. In the case of a goalkeeper glove, the extended hand and in particular individual fingers and the thumb are actively supported by the glove when deflecting a sharply shot ball.
To obtain the desired mechanical properties it is known from German Patent No. DE 35 16 545 C2, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, to manufacture the backside of a glove in certain areas out of two layers. A series of compression-proof bodies are arranged on a flexible, but non-yielding first layer (for example a suitable foil). A glove having such a backside can be right away bent, since the first, flexible layer does not provide any significant resistance against such a deformation. If the hand and the glove are extended, however, the compression-proof bodies of the second layer contact each other. The compression-proof bodies, together with the non-yielding nature of the first layer, prevent the backside of the glove from being bent in a direction of hyperextension, i.e., beyond the extended configuration.
A different approach is known from German Utility Model No. DE 201 13 431 U1, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. A glove reinforcing element is disclosed comprising a plurality of hingedly connected parts, each of which have a rotation pin and at the other end a corresponding bearing cavity. The links are designed such that a rotation of two links is only possible in one direction and the link chain blocks a movement in the opposite direction beyond the extended configuration.
A further design is shown in German Patent Application No. DE 100 10 404 A1, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The glove reinforcing element disclosed in this document comprises a plurality of links that are threaded onto a pulling organ extending through the links. This arrangement is similar to the design of the backside of the glove disclosed in DE 35 16 545 C2, wherein the pulling organ, for example a wire, has the function of the first, non-yielding layer.
Glove reinforcing elements known from the prior art for active protection against hyperextension are, however, difficult to manufacture. In the designs explained above, the compression-proof bodies of the second layer first have to be reliably anchored on the non-yielding first layer, for example by gluing or sewing or by guiding the pulling organ through openings in each of the compression-proof bodies. This process is difficult to automate.
The same applies to reinforcing elements made from a plurality of hingedly connected links. In a first step, each link must be manufactured. Subsequently, all links have to be interconnected. Since up to ten reinforcing elements are needed for a complete protection of the hands, this will lead to a significant manufacturing effort and resulting costs. As a consequence, gloves providing active protection against hyperextension can until now only be found in high-priced gloves for (semi-) professional users. In particular, it is impossible to produce gloves with a protection against hyperextension for kids at a cost that would be accepted by the market, although kids have the greatest risk of injuries.
A further disadvantage is the comparatively greater weight of gloves having a backside as described in DE 35 16 545 C2. The same applies to gloves having other known reinforcing elements. As a result, the movements of the goalkeeper become slower and the wearer cannot react quickly to a surprise shot.
Furthermore, known glove reinforcing elements are typically uncomfortable and create pressure points on the backside of the finger and/or the hand, for example when a ball is deflected using the fist, so that a very high load acts locally on the reinforcing element. Glove manufacturers try to avoid this effect by providing complex cushioning; however, such complex cushioning further increases the price, renders the glove bulky, and leads to a less direct support function of the glove reinforcing element. Moreover, the use of a plurality of compression-proof bodies or hinges makes it difficult to control the ball when deflecting with the fist, so that the ball is often deflected in an uncontrolled manner.
In a completely different technical field, i.e., the manufacture of soccer boots, it is known from German Patent Application No. DE 27 32 463, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, to integrate a curved reinforcing insert into the shoe sole, which allows a bending of the shoe during rolling-off, but which stabilizes the shoe when shooting a ball.
There is, therefore, a need to provide a reinforcing element that protects against hyperextension, overcomes at least some of the above mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, and can be manufactured at a low cost.